


Day Sixty-Five || Favorite

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [65]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 08:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18028082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Sometimes when you're homesick and can't sleep...talking about the place you miss most can give you a little peace. At least, until morning.





	Day Sixty-Five || Favorite

Having set up camp for the night, the self-proclaimed Team Avatar settles in as darkness falls...but everyone’s too awake yet to sleep.

Thoughts weigh heavy on their minds: the next leg of their journey will probably be their last. Once Sasuke teaches Naruto firebending...he’ll have all four elements under his belt. And the time will come to face Fire Lord Fugaku.

But for now...it’s important they rest.

“Anyone else totally wide awake?” Kiba asks from his sleeping bag.

“Yyyup,” Naruto replies, staring skyward.

“Maybe if you two would can it, you’d sleep,” Sakura grumbles from her own bedroll, turned away in an attempt to ignore them.

“Maybe...we could pass the time with some questions?”

Kiba turns to Hinata, brow perking. “...questions?”

“Yeah! Just, um...something to keep our minds busy. And maybe...learn a bit more about each other. Since...some of us are still new.”

There’s a pointed silence as everyone looks to Sasuke, sat up against a tree and not even  _ trying _ to sleep.

“...what?!”

“Ugh, fine,” Sakura concedes, sitting up and about-facing. “So, what kind of questions are we talking?”

“Anything, really. Just...something to help us feel a little better connected. And to just...think about. Rather than everything else.”

“Okay, okay, I got one...what’s your favorite  _ place _ ?”

“...really?” the earthbender asks, looking to Kiba with a deadpan look.

“I like it!” Naruto rebukes, giving Sakura a grin. “C’mooon, you have to have one!”

Sighing, she takes a moment to think. “...there was a cave not far from my family’s house. It’s actually where I first started practicing earthbending...and the bats there gave me inspiration to try using earth to ‘see’.”

“That’s...actually pretty cool,” Kiba admits.

“Okay, my turn!” Naruto crosses his arms, eyes squinted shut in thought. “...there was a balcony where Master Jiraiya and I would pull pranks from! I think that would have to be my favorite.”

“No surprise there,” Sakura teases with a grin.

“Okay Mister Prince, your turn,” Kiba insists.

“...all right, fine.” Glancing aside, Sasuke’s expression shifts with thought, clearly not having anything too specific in mind. “...there’s a pond in one of the palace courtyards. It was my mother’s favorite. All year round, there’s turtleducks...but every Spring, a few new ones are born. My brother and I would spend a while feeding them whenever he had spare time.” Something in his gaze hardens. “...but eventually, he wasn’t let outside much. I’d have to sneak him out without the medics knowing. They all said it’d be bad for his health, but I knew better.”

“Knew better than the medics?” Sakura asks, arms crossing.

“Those quacks didn’t do him a lick of good,” Sasuke retorts. “...I just hope the one he’s got now is working…”

“Well...we haven’t heard otherwise,” is Kiba’s offer, tone unusually gentled. “If the crown prince died, you  _ know _ it’d be everywhere.”

The look Sasuke shoots him quickly silences him.

“I’m sure he’s okay,” Hinata cuts in. “Waterbending is the best form of healing there is. If she’s truly doing her best...I know he’ll pull through.”

The prince eyes her, but doesn’t reply.

“Okay, so  _ my _ favorite place is our village!” Kiba announces, taking his turn. “Most importantly, the guard towers I’d make out of snow!”

“You mean those flimsy stacks of the stuff?” Sasuke cuts in, managing a hint of a grin. “I thought that was made by all the kids in your village.”

“Hey, those were my best means of scouting for the enemy!”

“And did you see  _ me _ coming?”

“Y...yes!”

“...not that you did much about it.”

“All right, enough!” Sakura cuts in as Kiba starts glaring daggers. “Not why we’re doing this!”

“Yeah! Hinata, you go!”

The waterbender hesitates. “Well, I…”

“You’ve got one, don’t you?” Naruto asks.

“...sort of.” A hand tucks hair behind her ear, arms hugging her knees to her chest. “There was...a tide pool a ways away from our village. It was under a big ice outcropping. That was where I would go to practice my waterbending, and...where I’d spend time by myself when I just...needed to get away from things for a while.”

Something fogs Hinata’s gaze: memories take her back into the past.

“...my mother told me that before the war began, we had lights in the South that would dance in the sky, like in the North. But...it threw our lands out of balance...and the spirits left. The skies were always dark…” Her chin tucks atop her knees. “...she would tell me all sorts of old stories she remembered there. And...when she was gone, I would still go to the top of the outcrop, and try to look for the lights. I never saw them…”

The whole group goes quiet, glancing to each other and not sure what to say. But Sasuke stares before lowering his gaze, expression heavy with guilt.

“...well, maybe when we end the war, the lights will come back!” Naruto offers, trying to lift the mood.

“It’ll take more than that.” 

Everyone looks to Sasuke.

“Winning the war is important...but it won’t end there. Think of all the prisoners that have to go home. The soldiers that need to be brought back to the Fire Nation. The South Pole lost almost  _ all _ of its benders. That means the balance between it and the North is almost completely tipped. It’ll be a long time before things are right…”

The air turns awkward as they all realize what that means.

“...well, someday,” Sakura murmurs. “And when they return...we’ll all come see them.”

“Hey, hey! That’s a great idea!” Naruto cuts in. “When this is all over...we’ll all go together, to our favorite places! To see them in the new world of peace!”

“That’s...actually a pretty neat idea,” Kiba admits, rubbing his chin as Akamaru gives a yip from his coat.

“They’re all pretty doable. We’ll just have to save Hinata’s for last, so the lights will be back.” The earthbender nods in agreement.

“Then it’s settled! Someday...we’ll see them all!”

Comforted by thoughts of places they both miss and yearn for, the group manages to taper off into silence...until Kiba starts snoring.

But two of them don’t find sleep so easily.

“...hey...Hinata.”

Looking over from her sleeping bag, she eyes the prince cautiously. “...what?”

“I just...I’m sorry about the lights.”

She blinks. “...it’s not your fault. You didn’t s-start the war.”

“No...but for a while I was intent on finishing it...and not in a good way.” He stares straight up, seeing a few patches of stars between the tree limbs. “I hope they come back.”

“...me too.”

“...do you think...I could see them?”

“Of course - why wouldn’t you?”

“...I don’t know if I deserve to.”

A bit torn on that herself, it takes Hinata a moment to reply. “...well, you’ll just have to help bring them back. Then...we can go see the turtleducks.”

“...yeah...I’d like that.”

“Me too. Goodnight, Sasuke.”

“...night.”

**Author's Note:**

> I will admit, this prompt was kinda...meh to me. A little TOO vague, so I really had no idea what to do until a friend gave me the suggestion of 'favorite place'. And this is what we got!
> 
> I've been marathoning Korra for a few days now, so...admittedly, this verse is majorly on my mind. But I thought it made for both a good variety of places, and also a good setup for the pair and their choices. A little short, and maybe not very impactful, but...when you write every day for a year, they can't all be winners lol
> 
> That said, that's all I've got for tonight! Thanks, as always, for reading~


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